Thursday, 25 October 2012

Shortwave Party - Where To Begin

Single review by KevW

As you know, we like reading band's own descriptions of their music, and this Austin, Texas five-piece have gone for "Jangle pop that makes people dance and/or nod their heads approvingly." A slightly humble description I think you'll agree, yet it suits them well. Shortwave Party's debut single certainly gets an approving nod from us, but we'll pass on the dancing part as we'd just end up looking like a twat with two left feet. Anyway, 'Where To Begin' seems an appropriate title for a first offering and musically it should catch the ears of people whose tastes include soulful indie-type guitar music. B-side 'Hopeless' is a particularly heartfelt and powerful example of vocalist Shelby's fine pair of lungs and you can see how she's been compared to Florence Welch.

Sound-wise Shortwave Party are less commercial, and this is to their credit. Second B-side 'Terez' is a great little lo-fi pop tune given extra clout thanks to that voice, it's a combination that works wonderfully and you hope they don't get tempted to buff up the sound to go seeking more widespread appreciation, but then people have to make a living, and if the songs are still up to this standard then we can't really complain. It's the lead track that understandably marks the high point of this debut single, mixing a scratchy riff with some twanging guitars and a bouncy rhythm that's got "underground hit" written all over it; it's an appealing little number for sure. We look forward to nodding our heads approvingly when the next release comes around.